Uber car. Photo: Shutterstock.com

Ride-sharing giant Uber has been targeted in a potential class action lawsuit over the company's alleged failure to provide wheelchair accessibility to customers.

Pittsburgh class action firm Carlson Lynch and Disability Rights Advocates filed the lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania on Tuesday.

“Uber occupies a prominent role in the future of on-demand transportation,” the complaint said. ”However, Uber's policies and practices are discriminatory and deny individuals who need wheelchair accessible vehicles equal access to the service it provides, and prevent them from obtaining the benefits of its service. In the Pittsburgh area, Uber provides no wheelchair accessible vehicles through its transportation service at all.”

The plaintiffs—four disabled individuals—claimed that Uber's alleged conduct violated the Americans With Disabilities Act.

Uber did not respond to a request for comment.

The complaint alleged that the Pittsburgh public transportation service area is shrinking while Uber and similar ride-sharing services are pushing traditional taxi services from the market. Therefore, the complaint said, Uber's alleged discriminatory practices have had a negative impact upon disabled riders in the area. 

“The mobility disabled community in Pittsburgh has historically had limited accessible transportation options. The convergence of Uber's discriminatory practices with its increasing market share for on-demand transportation services is making an already bad situation worse,” the complaint said.

The plaintiffs were not able to identify a specific number of disabled people who would be eligible as class members, but claimed the number was sufficient enough to merit class status.

“Transportation can be a real challenge for people with mobility disabilities, who often don't have access to their own vehicle and who frequently can't depend on paratransit because it is unreliable,” said Disability Rights Advocates attorney Michelle Iorio in a statement. “Accessible ride sharing would facilitate societal integration for persons with disabilities, and Uber's failure to provide wheelchair-accessible service undermines this potential.”

Bruce Carlson, a founding partner of Carlson Lynch, shared Iorio's statement, noting “Uber's express business plan, as detailed in its regulatory filings, is to displace public transportation with its ride-sharing services. The problem is that public transportation, where available, is largely accessible, but Uber's ride sharing services are not. Uber wants to create a paradigm shift with respect to the provision of transportation services. But will the new paradigm realize the potential of exponentially increasing accessibility, or will it leave individuals with mobility disabilities behind?”